A graduate of Smith College, she wrote her senior thesis, the Surviving Superheroines: Costume, Sexuality and Identity of Female Characters in Superhero Comics, with Professor N. C. Christopher Couch. Her upcoming scholarly article is set to feature interviews with Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Claremont on the topic of Kitty Pryde and the representation of female Jewish characters in superhero comics.

She is currently the Vice President of Marketing at a New England non-profit, as well as Social Media Manager for nerdcore rapper MC Lars and a local comic shop. Her writing has been featured in a variety of RPG supplements published by Spectrum Games, and she is beta testing her RPG Best Friends Forever! Magic Adventure Sparkles and Hugs.

Her costumes have been featured on Comic Alliance's Best Cosplay Ever (This Week), Geek Exchange Magazine, and ScienceFiction.com.

Barak Blackburn (Writer)

Barak Blackburn loves comicbooks and loves RPGs, and has spent much of his adult life dedicated to these two loves. He has been involved in numerous podcasts related to both, including: We 3 Geeks, MythSpoken, and The Tome Show Round Table. Before the Internet, he published Mister Density, a international zine that was featured at the New Museum in NYC; he is an FCC licensed DJ who hosted a weekly call-in radio game show; he has been profiled in the Boston Globe for his work on the Big Internet before everything went belly-up, and now works at a small independent school in New England, and spends his time reading comic books, and writing and running roleplaying games, including Capes, Cowls, and Villains Foul, Retrostar and Best Friends Forever! Magic Adventure Sparkles and Hugs by Spectrum Games. He ruminates on these important topics at ActsofGeek.com. He is not Daredevil, believes D&D is a genre, is upset that Jason Todd returning from the dead did not produce an amazing Batman story arc, and knows that Lex Luthor is more powerful than Superman and Batman.

3.5 Geeks (Podcast)

PortConMaine is proud to welcome the podcast 3.5 Geeks as a guest for 2015!

3.5 Geeks started as the brainchild of Nathan Towns in early 2014, and first aired in April of that year, shortly after Towns recruited his first co-host, self-described "local rando" Matthew I. Bishop. It would become a podcast dedicated to geekery of all stripes and seasons, flourishing in the renaissance of superhero-based movies and television, discussing comics and video games and animation in equal quantity. But it would also come to include passionate discussions about equality and compassion to your fellow geeks and other human beings. After all, if you can geek out about it, they'll talk about it.

Eric Anderson (Special Effects Artist)

PortConMaine is proud to announce the return of Eric Anderson as a guest of honor for 2015!

Eric Anderson is a Portland based practical special effects and props artist who owns the company "The Shoggoth Assembly" (Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/1KsdpFp ). He has worked with various films and series such as "Ragged Isle", "The Hanover House", "Damnationland 2015", "How to Kill a Zombie" and many more (IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3903888/ ). He has also worked with local effects-heavy theater productions such as Killer Joe and The Lieutenant of Innismore.

On top of special effects makeup and prop work, he has also sold hundreds of silicone masks and other creations to customers around the world ( http://shoggothassembly.etsy.com ). His work has been featured in numerous photoshoots, bands, films and haunts and he is continually making new and interesting pieces to help you creep out the people around you.